How Spanish Inheritance Works

In the sad event of a death, if the person had any Spanish assets it is necessary to carry out several actions in order to complete the inheritance process..

Even if the survivors are sure that they have a copy of the last Spanish Will, it is first necessary to obtain a certificate of Last Wishes from the Ministry of Justice in Madrid. This certificate states if there is a Spanish Will and if so, where the last lodged one is held.

With this certificate the Notary can release the Will and the inheritance process gets well underway.  

If there is no Spanish Will, the process becomes complex and a Grant of Probate will be required from the native country. A Will from the native country does make obtaining the Grant of Probate more straght-forward but the process is still more complex. This is why we strongly recommend taking time to make a Spanish Will.

Once the certificate and Will have been obtained, if there is property involved then the next step is to the Notary to sign the Inheritance Deed (Escritura de Herencia). The inheritor(s) or representative (with power of attorney) presents all assets, such as property deeds, bank certificates, vehicle documents etc, and these are all recorded in the document.

After the Notary, it is the Tax Office (Hacienda), where any inheritance tax is calculated and must be paid before the Notary release the Inheritance Deed, which is then presented to the Land Registry so the property is put into the inheritor(s) name(s).   

If there is no property involved, the Notary does not get involved and the process moves straight on to the Tax Office. The certificate issued by the Tax Office is required by the bank, along with all other documentation gathered along the way, including the Will and death certificate.

Please bear in mind that every office dealt with requires payment for the process and their servicesso it does become quite a costly business.  

If you would like to discuss this further or would like help with the proces, please do get in touch.

Spanish Inheritance Tax

If you are the spouse, natural born child or adopted child, then as direct relatives there is usually no inheritance tax to pay, unless the inheritance is more than one million euros.

If you are siblings or parents, then you move into the 2nd band and there is a low inheritance tax to pay.

Neices, nephews, and other such indirect relatives move into band 3, where the tax is higher.

If there is no blood line, including step-children, then the inheritance tax is much higher.

We can discuss this with you further and even obtain an approximate cost based on current assets value.          .   

Spanish Wills, Inheritance and Bereavement

Making a Spanish Will is very important if you have any assets in Spain.

Dealing with all aspects of bereavement & inheritance can be very difficult at such a sad time.  

We are here to help with any of the issues.